Aston Martin’s ‘Controversial’ $3,000,000 Car Set to Grace Historic Race to End Ferrari’s New Found Success

Codename AM-RB 001, or the Aston Martin Valkyrie as many of us know it is standing on the cusp of making history. As of today, Aston Martin’s most ambitious project yet will finally debut, in race trim, at the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans. The British motoring giants will follow the footsteps of their F1 counterpart, Ferrari, who themselves tasted glory, on debut, as they won the 100th anniversary of the 24-hour spectacle this year with their bespoke 499P after an absence of 50 years from the biggest stage in endurance racing. That being said, while Aston Martin will want to dethrone the prancing horse, they still have to get to grips with a host of gremlins haunting their own challenger: the Valkyrie LMH.

The birth of the Valkyrie, back in 2016, was as iconic as it could get with the legendary Adrian Newey at the helm of inception and design. However, it has been in troubled waters ever since. The project started out as an all-star collaboration between Red Bull and Aston Martin. With Newey spearheading the project, it was Aston Martin’s biggest shot at glory yet. Be that as it may, Newey’s pursuit for perfection cost them dearly. Nearly $3,000,000 per Valkyrie to be exact.

But don’t let that price tag fool you. With a 6.5-liter V12 hybrid engine that is capable of producing upwards of 1000 horsepower, this bespoke piece of race engineering is worth every last penny. Naturally, the hopes are high as Newey’s brainchild embarks on a journey to conquer Le Mans.

Aston Martin prepares its challenger to dethrone Ferrari

Earlier today, Aston Martin revealed that the Valkyrie LMH will make its Le Mans debut during the 2025 edition of the race. Safe to say, the team are preparing a bid to enter the World Endurance Championship full-time. And given that this will be their first attempt at scaling the Circuit de la Sarthe since 2011, the Aston Martin premises was buzzing with anticipation and excitement.

Executive Chairman of the outfit, Lawrence Stroll was quoted as declaring, “We have been present at Le Mans since the earliest days, and through those glorious endeavors we succeeded in winning Le Mans in 1959 and our class 19 times over the past 95 years. Now we return to the scene of those first triumphs aiming to write new history with a racing prototype inspired by the fastest production car Aston Martin has ever built.”

If history is anything to go by though, this is going to be anything but smooth sailing for the cursed hypercar.

The troubled and controversial legacy of the AM Valkyrie

While the roaring V12 of the Valkyrie won’t startle Stroll Sr., everything else about it has. With how extensively expensive the car was proving to be, the fiscal health of the Company was taking a massive beating. It all culminated in reported $190,000,000 lawsuit.

Clutching at straws, Aston Martin sought external finances and partnered with Nebula Project AG to fund the car’s production. But as the going got tough, Stroll backed out of the deal and all hell broke loose with a bevvy of lawsuits being served upon the Canadian mogul and the British motoring legends.

That’s not it, though. The Valkyrie curse seems to have infected Red Bull’s messiah, Max Verstappen, too! Just recently he got into hot water with French police as he was seen obliterating a bunch of traffic rules during a joyride in his own Valkyrie on the streets of the Principality. Can Aston Martin erase a troubled past with ultimate success at Le Mans?